Such devices are known from the prior art. For opening the aircraft door, the aircraft door is initially lifted slightly from the sealed closed position and then shifted or swivelled into the open position. From DE 10 2011 109 652 A1, for example, such a device is known, in which the aircraft door is pivotally supported on the aircraft fuselage by means of a support arm. The visible side of the support arm is faced with a cover.
For reasons of safety and for aesthetic aspects, it is necessary that the inner side of the aircraft door, which faces the seating compartment, is essentially completely covered by a cover. For this purpose, a support arm cover is provided, which comprises a flap element for the release of the swivel movement of the support arm, which element can swivel relative to a stationary cover element, when the door is opened. Thus, the cover element can slide beneath the flap element.
Up to now, two different concepts of triggering the flap elements have been used in the prior art, which for various reasons are disadvantageous, however.
On the one hand, the flap element was guided by means of a roll, subject to spring preload, on the visible side of the cover of the support arm. As a disadvantage, the rolling results in traces of wear on the visible side of the cover, an effect that should be avoided. It is true that guide strips made of metal could also be mounted on the external side of the cover. However, this interferes with the homogeneous appearance of the cover in a disadvantageous manner.
On the other hand, it is known from the prior art to kinematically trigger the flap element via a mechanical connection in the form of a connecting rod. Due to the limited space available in the assembly situation, it constitutes a disadvantage that the flap element can be joined in an articulated manner on the aircraft door only very closely to the pivot point of the flap element. However, it has turned out that such a design reacts too sensitively and is prone to malfunction. What is more, the constructional effort is disadvantageous.
In addition, various devices for opening aircraft doors are known from the prior art, in which, however, the problem of swivelling and guiding the flap element of the inner lining of door is not dealt with.
EP 0 317 037 A2 discloses a different hinge mechanism for an aircraft door, by which the aircraft door is pivotally connected to the fuselage. For this purpose, guide elements of the link-guide type are provided. However, this prior art cannot contribute anything to reliably guiding the flap element of the door cover across the visible side of the lining, when the doors opens. For this, the link guide from the prior art would be unsuitable for lack of space alone.
GB 1,228,969 A describes an aircraft door supported on the fuselage of an aircraft, which can be opened by means of a swivel mechanism. For increasing the door opening, the aircraft door can be pushed along the external side of the fuselage by means of rolls arranged in an upper and a lower guide track.
US 2006/202087 A1 discloses a hinge assembly for pivotally attaching an aircraft door to an aircraft fuselage. The hinge assembly comprises a curved pivot element, one end of which is pivotally attached to a link element, and the other end of which is pivotally attached to link elements. In any case, said prior art cannot contribute either to the solution to the problem posed to the present invention.
DE 29 07 550 A1 relates to a different folding insert door for aircrafts for opening or closing an opening in the fuselage, the opening being smaller than the door.
Finally, CN 101570248 A discloses a different lifting mechanism for aircraft doors and CN 201484657 U discloses a different swivelling mechanism for aircraft doors.
Compared to this, the object of the present invention is to reduce or eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the aim of the invention is to provide a constructionally simple device of the above given type, by means of which the limited spatial conditions are taken into consideration, when the aircraft door opens, and by means of which the visible side of the support arm cover can be treated with care when in use.
This object is achieved by a device for opening an aircraft door provided on an aircraft fuselage, said device comprising: a support arm that is arranged in an articulated manner between the aircraft fuselage and the aircraft door; an opening system for opening the aircraft door by lifting the aircraft door from a closed position into an intermediate position and transferring the aircraft door from the intermediate position into an open position; a support arm cover substantially entirely covering the support arm in the closed position of the aircraft door, wherein the support arm cover has a cover element immovably arranged on the support arm, and a flap element which, when the aircraft door is opened, swivels between a state in which the flap element is substantially flush with the cover element, and a state in which the flap element overlaps the cover element; and a guide system for guiding the flap element when the aircraft door is opened, wherein the guide system has at least one guide arm, one end of which is joined in an articulated manner to the support arm, and the other end of which is joined to at least one guide element, wherein the guide element is guided along a guide track on an inner side of the flap element, when the aircraft door is opened.
In accordance with the invention the guide system comprises at least one guide arm, one end of which is joined in an articulated manner to the support arm, and the other end of which is joined to at least one guide element, which can be guided along a guide track on the inner side of the flap element, when the aircraft door is opened.
In the closed position of the aircraft door, the immovably arranged cover element and the pivotable flap element are substantially flush with each other, that is to say are arranged side-by-side in the same plane, wherein essentially no gap is formed between the adjacent portions of the cover element and the flap element. Thus, the visible side of the support arm facing the interior of the aircraft, which support arm, for one thing, is joined to the aircraft fuselage and, for the other thing, is joined to the aircraft door in an articulated manner, is covered essentially completely by the support arm cover consisting at least of the cover element of the flap element, when it is in the closed position. On the side of the interior of the aircraft, the aircraft door is likewise provided with cover elements. To initiate the opening process, usually an operating lever on the inner side of the aircraft door is tripped. Thus, the aircraft door is lifted from a closing position sealing the aircraft fuselage upwards essentially in vertical direction and into an intermediate position. Subsequently, the aircraft door can be pushed or swivelled outwards into the open position, thus releasing an entrance opening into the aircraft. The aircraft door is preferably supported on the support arm in such a manner that the aircraft door is initially pushed outwards and then guided into the open position in a manner essentially parallel to the aircraft fuselage. This opening mechanism is known as such in the prior art. Upon swivelling the support arm, the flap element, which is preferably supported on the aircraft door about an especially essentially vertical swivel axis, will be pushed across the visible side of the cover element at a distance thereto. Swivelling of the support arm can be released thereby. The guide element of the guide system is guided on the inner side of the flap element, that is to say on the side of the flap element facing away from the visible side. Thereby, the flap element is kept at a distance to the visible side of the cover element, when the support arm is swivelled. For this purpose, the guide element is arranged on the end of a guide arm, which is supported in an articulated manner to the support arm directly or indirectly via a mounting element. Upon opening the aircraft door, the guide arm is swivelled upwards, thus increasing the normal distance, that is the horizontal distance between the articulated connection of the guide arm on the side of the support arm and the guide element on the side of the flap element. Accordingly, by swivelling the guide arm, the guide system is moved from a compressed state in the closed position of the aircraft door into an extended state of the guide system in the open position of the aircraft door. This reliably ensures that the flap element can be guided to the overlapping position with the cover element during swivelling the guide arm. In the overlapping position, the flap element is partially arranged above the cover element. Since the guide system according to the invention does not come into contact with the visible side of the cover element, advantageously the visible side of the cover element can be protected from signs of wear. Moreover, the guide system according to the invention distinguishes itself by low space requirement. In addition, it is an advantage that the guide element can engage closely on the pivotable edge portion of the flap elements, thus allowing a particularly reliable, precise guiding of the flap element, when the aircraft door opens. Compared to this, disadvantageously the connecting rod provided in the prior art could be supported only very closely on the center of rotation of the flap element. Moreover, the guide system according to the invention has the advantage that the force for pressing the sealings in the closed position of the aircraft door can be initiated especially efficiently.
To ensure that the flap element is guided reliably and at low costs of construction, it is favorable that the guide element comprises at least a roll element that can roll on the guide track on the inner side of the flap element. Upon opening the aircraft door, a force is exerted on the flap element via the roll element on the end of the guide element, which force causes the flap element to swivel outwards, away from the immovable cover element. Upon opening the aircraft door, the guide arm between the roll element and the support arm is swivelled in such a way that the normal distance, that is the distance in horizontal direction between the joint of the guide arm on the side of the support arm and the roll element on the side of the guide track increases. In this manner, it is possible to reliably prevent that the flap element impinges upon the cover element, when the aircraft door is swivelled. A particularly precise guiding of the flap element can be ensured if the guide track on the inner side of the flap element reaches up to an edge portion adjacent to the cover element. When the support arm is swivelled, the guide element, starting from the edge portion of the flap element, is guided towards the pivot axis of the flap element.
For force transmission between the guide element and the flap element, it is advantageous that the guide element comprises a roll element rotatable about an essentially vertical rotational axis, which roll element can roll on an essentially vertical guide surface of the guide track.
For the purpose of this disclosure, “vertical” refers to the direction of lifting the aircraft door prior to swivelling, that is to say in the mounted state, the direction perpendicular to the floor surface of the aircraft. The terms “top” and “bottom” also refer thereto. Accordingly, “horizontal” means the plane perpendicular to the lifting movement of the aircraft door.
In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment, the guide element comprises a roll element rotatable about an essentially horizontal rotational axis and which can roll on a corresponding, in particular essentially horizontal guide projection of the guide track. In this embodiment, the vertical position of the guide element can be defined by means of the guide projection of the guide track. Preferably, the horizontally rotating roll element rolls on the upper side of the horizontal guide projection. Said embodiment has the advantage of that the guide element is carried along upwards by the guide projection on the flap element, when the aircraft door is lifted, whereby the guide arm is swivelled upwards and the flap element is pressed outwards.
To achieve better guiding of the roll element, it is advantageous when the diameter of the horizontally rotating roll element increases towards its free end. The height of the guide projection preferably increases outwardly in accordance with the horizontally rotating roll element, away from the inner side of the flap element. Accordingly, an undercut is formed on the horizontally rotating roll element, by means of which a reliable contact is achieved with the correspondingly formed guide surface of the guide projection on the inner side of the flap element.
Moreover, it is favorable when the guide projection for the horizontally rotating roll element comprises a height variation. In this embodiment, the guide surface of the guide projection comprises a section having a course that is variable in vertical direction, in particular a course that increases. Advantageously, the normal distance between the guide element on the inner side of the flap element and the support of the guide arm on the support arm can accurately be adjusted to obtain the desired swivel movement of the flap element.
Preferably, a support element forming the guide track for the guide element is mounted on the inner side of the flap element. Principally, it would also be conceivable to design the guide track directly on the inner side of the flap element.
To guide the flap element over the immovable cover element, upon opening of the aircraft door, it is favorable that the at least one guide arm is connected to a spring element, so that the at least one guide arm can be transferred, with the help of the spring element, from a compressed state of the guide system in the closed position of the aircraft door into an at least partially extended state of the guide system in the open position of the aircraft door. Therefore, the spring element presses the guide arm in the direction of the extended state of the guide system, in which the normal distance between the guide element and the articulated connection of the guide arm with the support arm is larger than in the compressed state of the guide system. For this purpose, in the compressed state of the guide system, the guide arm is arranged at a steeper angle relative to the horizontal line than in the extended state of the guide system.
For preloading the guide arm in the direction of the extended state of the guide system it is advantageous to provide a torsion spring as a spring element, which is preferably arranged about the hinge of the guide arm on the side of the support arm. This embodiment has a simple and long-lasting construction.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the guide system comprises two guide arms arranged in particular essentially parallel to one another, the one ends of which are joined in an articulated manner to the support arm, and the other ends of which are joined in an articulated manner to a connecting element between the guide arms. Preferably, exactly two guide arms are provided, so that a four-bar linkage is created. The guide element is preferably supported on the connecting element between the guide arms. Advantageously, the guide element can be guided along the guide track in an unchanging angular position, in particular in the vertical position, when the guide arms are swivelled upon opening the door.
To obtain a design which is resilient and has a simple construction, preferably the connecting element has an elongate connecting arm, the ends of which are connected to the guide arms in an articulated manner.
In this embodiment it is preferably provided that the connecting arm comprises accommodating points spaced in a longitudinal direction for accommodating a shaft element supporting the vertically rotating roll element.
In addition, it is favorable when the connecting arm comprises a bore for accommodating an axle element supporting the horizontally rotating roll element.
For attaching the guide system to the support arm it is advantageous to define the hinge between the guide arm and the support arm on a mounting element, which is preferably mounted on a front side of the support arm, which front side faces the flap element. Thus, the mounting element is preferably located behind the support arm cover, that is to say on the side of the support arm cover facing away from the visible side, so that the guide system is not visible in operation.
When the guide system comprises a link element on the support arm, in which link element a guide member can be guided on the inner side of the flap element, when the aircraft door is lifted, guiding of the flap element can advantageously be supported at the beginning of the opening process or at the end of the closing process. Guiding of the flap element by means of the link element or the guide member is preferably effective only during lifting of the aircraft door at the beginning of the opening process and during lowering of the aircraft door at the end of the opening process, whereby in-between guiding of the flap element is managed with the guide element guided on the guide track of the flap element.
For transferring the vertical movement of the aircraft door onto the flap element, it is particularly advantageous when the link element comprises a guide channel that extends transversely to the vertical line and is open on one side, so that shifting of the guide member along the guide channel of the link element is converted into a swivelling of the flap element, when the aircraft door is lifted. By lifting the aircraft door the flap element shifts upwards relative to the cover element. Due to the link guide the flap element is swivelled outwards at the same time, and a gap is formed between the cover element and the flap element. Starting from this position, the aircraft door can be opened by swivelling the support arm, the flap element gliding past the visible side of the cover element. The guide system prevents the flap element from damaging the visible side of the cover element.
To ensure permanent function of the link guide, it is favorable if the guide member comprises a guide roll that can roll on a wall of the link element.
To ensure a flush arrangement between the cover element and the flap element upon reaching the closed position of the aircraft door, it is favorable if at least two link elements for at least two guide members on the inner side of the flap elements are provided on the support arm, preferably one guide member being arranged on each the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the flap element.